Process of regulating pressure in gas-producing apparatus.



H. L. DOHERTY.

PROCESS 0E EEGULATING PRESSURE IN GAS PEODUGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.7,1909.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

2 SHE BTS-SHEET 1.

l/ 'VE/WOR Henry pozzery W/TNESSFS V V MTU/mfr H. L. DOHERTY.

PROCESS 0F REGULATING PRESSURE 1N GAS PRODUCING APPARATUS. APPLIGATIDN P1131) APR. '1; 1909.

1,008,449, `11.1111111911Nov.14,1911.

Z SHEETS-'SHEET 2.

HENRY L. DOHERTY, F NEW YORK, N. Y.

:PROCESS OF REGULATING PRESSURE IN GAS-PRODUC-ING APPARATUS Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

Application illed April 7, 1909. Serial No. 488,378.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. Doi-muri', a citizen Vofthe Tlnited' States, residing at New York city, in the'county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Regulating the Pressure in Gas-Producing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to a process for regulat-ing the pressure in gas producing ap# paratus and particularly in that kind of suchl apparatus in which a combustible gas is formed by subjecting fuel in a deep bed to combustion by a limited supply of air.

The object of my invention is the provision of a method whereby, in apparatus of the kind mentioned, the pressure in the gas producer may be broughtvto and maintained at any zone thereofat a point, above, below or at atmospheric pressure, whereby the danger of explosion due to a sudden inrush of-air into the producer through the opening of a door or poke-hole at a point thereon where apartial vacuum may exist, or to a. leakage ol. gas to the outside air diie to a plmsiipressure at the point of opening, may be avoided.

lnthe operation oi gas producers it has heretofore been the' practice to either induce the draft throughtheV producer byv means4 of an exhauster or force it through by means of a blower or injector. Either of these methods ot operating a producer i labors iinder the objection'that for ra given 'rentl passing therethrough.

speed of driving the producer a given rate of gas production) the pressure conditions at any given zone in the producer are practically constant and invariable. There is no possibilityof altering the pressure at any 'Zone in the producer without at the seme time varying the volume of the draft cur Therefore, if it is desired, for example, to bring the pressure in the upper part of the producer above lthe fuel bed to exactly the pressure ofthe atmosphere, so that the poke-holes may be opened for barring the fuel bed, it is necessary in the present type of producers to reduce the draftcurrent until the desired ressure conditions have been established. his statement true in connection with either suction t or pressure operated producers. VOn the other hand; by the method of operatinga lproducer'herein revealed and claiuied, I can exercise an absolute, control over the pressure conditions in the producer and produce any desired indicated pressure at any given point without causing any variation in the speed at which I am driving the producer, 1". c., Without causing any variation in the -volume of gas made, l can bring the pressure above the fuel bed to neutral or atmospheric pressure when I want to open the' polreholes for poliing the bed, or I can bring .the pressure in che ashpit to the same point when I want to open the ashdoor for the purpose of rcmoving the ash, Without affecting theV prcduction of gus or the temperature condition; in the producer.

ln the accompanying drawings I have shown in diagrammatic form an `ipparatus suitable for z plying my invenion.

Figure 1 is a iagrain showing the apparatus in elevation applied to a downdratt producer. Fig. 2 is a similar View ofthe producer and connections between producer and recuperatorof the appara tus applied, to the ordinary updrait producer.

1, indicates the producer; 2 a recu perator or heat-intruchanger for transferring the.'

heat of the gas leaving the producer to the entering gaseous current; 3.an exliauster; 4 a blower; 5 is the discharge pipe of the blower 4. having a valve 6; 7 is a cross flue distributing the air to the air lues 8 of the recuperator 2; 9 another vcross flue connecting the tlues 8, at their discharge end; l() a conduit conducting the heated air to thc producer 'and't-having avalve 11 12 indicates the fuel bed of the produr, the upper surfacethereof being delineated by the line A A; 13 is the gas conduit conductingthehot producer gas to the distributing cross flue l and havinga valve 14; 16 indicates-thegas flues of the recuperat'or; 17 a cross iue connecting the various fiues 8; 18 is a pipe conducting the gas from 17 to the suction pipe 19 of exhauster 3; 20 is the discharge pipe of exhauster 3, having a valve 21; 22, 23 and 24 are gages. or manon'ieters placed at different zones of the producer to indicate the pressure therein; is the cliargiiighopper of the producer having the charging mechanism 26; 4

-27 'are poke-holes in the top of the pioducer for the purpose of providing access to the Ainterior thereof for barring down tlie fuel bed ;v 2S is the ash pit of the producer; 29 indicate' Va systemvof water pipes for supplying .vater to the recuperator 2 when the.

*ieinpciature control oi" the producer is et iiect'ed hy n'ieans of water; 3th 3l, il! und 23? are valves rcgulatii'igg; the supply ol'I water to the tliics t ot' 'the roiaipei'a!org ft is the suction. pipe oit the blower l7 him-"ing a dainper itor regulating the adiiiission ol aii' l'iereto; zt indicates the space in the producer above the incl hed; 213'? an air inlet' 'to pipe' controlled liy a Vaiife 3tlg :itl is the ash-door of the producer; fl() indifaitc-s polieholcs in the wails of the producer just above the ash zone. .i

In Fig. 2, the numerals with the superscript prime indicate the saine parts as the eorrespoi'iding numerals in Fig. l, applied to an up-dra'tt producer.

ril

ne method ot oper'ting the particular apparatus'shown inv l is as follows:-

A bed `of ignited fuel is huilt up in the producer in the' customary manner familiar to those skilled in the art, ity means of the exhaustcr 3 and the blower "l a. dratt is established through the producer7 air from 'blower f1 passing through the pipe 5 to the cross flue 7 From 7 it is distributed to the air tues 8 of the reziipi'rsitf.u* passes .through these tlues and enters the cross tlne 9, thence through the pipe or coiiduit 1t) to the upper part of the. producer ahore the fuel bed. Under the action ot the cxhaiist'ei' 3 in connection with the blower t theair cur-rent entering ahorre the fuel hed is drawn down therethrough, reacting with the incandescent fuel and forming producer gas..

This gas:` passes to the ash pit and from theneethrough the conduit or pipe 13 to the cross flue 15 of .the reci'iperator. From 15 the hot gas passes to the sev' al fines 1G` through 16 to the cross tine 17, and trom .17 through 18- and 19 to the exhaustei' 3, and thence to a gas holder or place of use when used directly.

In the type of recuperator shown, the gas flues 16 are a set' of parallel return-bend flues enveloping theI air fines 8. The travel of the producer'gas is therefore parallel hut in the reverse direction to that of the air current.

'By this deviceI transfer to the draft current supplied to the produeer inost of the sensible heat of the ijiroducer gas.

It is Well known to those skilled in the art that it is necessary' for economical op eration to supply' to the draft current'furnished tothe producer sorne agent such as water Vapor or carbon dioxid, which being" converted into coi'nhiistihle ygrasos absorbs thereby the heat of the fuel lied. By suitably regulating the proportion. of Water or carbon dioxid supplied to the producen the temperature therein may he maintained 'within sate liinits. In the apparatus shown I may use either 'water or cai-hon dioxid. for this regulation. It I ain using carlon din oxid Iconnect the pipe 34 of the blower 4C '3S to the cxliaitstefry with some source of carbon dioXid, such as products of combustion for instance. 'I'hen l) tut'ustiliff the dani )ers 55 and 38 I. can.

.Y .l e, t

tarnish to the producer a drafteurrent containing any propiuftion of air and of the proihficts ot con'il'iustioii that I may desire. It I wish to use water I supply the requisite quantity to the airlines 8 hy means of the pipes 25) and valves 30, 31., and In the tliiesl 8 the water is evaporated by the heat. transferred troni the hot producer gas and is taken up hythe air eurrent'and con. i'cyod to the producer a's"vapor.

Assuming thatAIV they 'producerA has been brought to its;'nortinalyvorkinp,r condition, it" it. is desired to tiring-the pressure in the uma-r part; of the fuel chamber of the producer ahoi'e the fuel hed to atmospheric pressure without affecting the quantity of iras niaile (when charging the producer forinstance) this can he done -in two Ways. The first is hy regulating' the speed of the ext-muster and' blower and vthe other is by manipulating the valves'anddainpers Without changing the speed' otr anda. `By the iii-.st niethod, assuining that the pressure in the space 3C is ajhoye atmospheric, I increase the speed oli' exhauster 8 and decrease the.

speed of blower 4 Auntil the gage 24: reads zero7 that is, atmospheric pressure 1s indicated; wlien the original pressure in 36 is vhelow atmospheric I decrease the speed of exhanste'ig and incicase'tl'ie speed of blower ft until reads -zero as before. By the second method 'I run Sian-d 4at'coiista-nt speed und el't'ect the regulation hy vnianipulating rali-es o and 21 v until the gageV 24 reads zero.

()i.'dinarily the latter inethod'is the preferahle one as it is sin'ipler to operatethe valves (i ,and 21 than to regulate the steam supply to the engines driving 3 and 4, or to regulate the pressure by varying the speed of the n'iotors when a variable speed inotor'drive is used Itis evident' that if We' runif at constant speed, the volume of .gas which 'lt'` will 'pass iii-a given tinie will `Va.iiy",' irrthefl'ist place,v with the prcssureot the gasfon the suction side ot? the tan, and in the second place, with the pressureon the discharge side. Like wise. with the fan ft. Under normal workH ing coi'iditionsdt is, usually, preferable to operate the produi diminished. pres'su it. clear, tli'at'I wholly hy the" this case it er under a more or 'less 'r'ate' my' producer 3 if" I so sire. In

y there' WllfeXist va gradually increasing- Want to hr'i'nf By opening fvalve 138,A

vila#naar rae vaivefitnov I instead ot induced draft I have raised the l proper working conditions in the producer. pressure througl'u'iut the system up to ex- 'The rush of air into the latter throigh the hauster 3. Since Iv am assuming this run at poke-holes and clinkering doors has i-v tendconstant speed, Vit is evident that, the4 ineney to follow up the sides of the producer crease of pressure on the suction side will l instead of `going into the interior of the fuel 7g result in a greater volume passing through l bed. This results in a localized developf in a given time unless the pressure on the i nient;- oi heat and in a large piirtof the cardischarge side is increased by (in the appal lion dioxid. which is the initial pro luet ofv ratus shown) throttling the areav ot'the disl the combustion ot' the oxygen, goingthrough charge outlet. i y the l'ui-l bed unchanged. since it is not sutli- 75 BY Ili'ollerly manipulating (l and 'll the l rently contacted with the incandescent fuel l pressure in 3G may be brought to that of the i to insure its reduction to carbon inonoxid. atmosphere. lVhe'u thisconditionisreaehed The presence of a considerable proportion the fact is indicated by the gage ll being l of carbon dioxidin thc gas greatly'dimin- 5 at Zero reading. lt is plain that with this islies its ralorilic value. lesides. oiving to 80 condition I may open the poke-holes or the 1 the fact ot the air slioiLt.-circuiting so to charging hopper without any danger ot speak) up the `sides of the produ er.` the short circuitii'ig my recuperator and ilrawdraft through the interior of the iuel bed ing cold air instead of hot into the producer. l is diminished and the amount of carbon In a similar manner. when I wish to open inonoxid and hydrogen formed when water 85 v the poke-holes 40, I can bring the pressure at l vapor or steam is used in the produce is lessthe level of 4() to atiiii'ispherie, thus permitl ened. That is,a large pari of thtcarbon ting `the fuel bed to be worked thi-nigh 4t) l xnoiioxid which is normally formell is replaced by carbon dioxid. The presence ot' carbon dioxid in the gas, therefore, not only 90 dilutes it but in e'li'ect robs it of part of its normal caloritic value due to the reduction of the actual Weight of carbon inonoxid formed in a given time. The actual l. T. U. `which the producer can furnish to whatf95 with entire safety, and without any iuter- :5 lerent're with the yworking of the producer` Likewise when I wish to remove the accir mula-ted ash from the ash pit I can readily bring the pressure in the ash pit 28 to atmospheric pressure. by manipulating the valves 30 t3 and 2l, until the gage 23 reads zero. This permits ine to remove the ash Without interl i l ever gas consuming apparatus it ir supplyferingwith the operation of the producer, iugis consequently greatly reduced during something which cannot be done with a the operation of clinkering. In maiy of the do\vn-draft producer run in the ordinary uses to which producer gas is put this variamanner. i tion in the quality of the gas `1s not only an- 109 When applied to an ordinary lip-draft noying but, in some cases, very seri iuls. For producer; the mai'iii'iulation to bring about ii'istance, when the producer siipilies gas atmospheric pressure in any part ot" the pro- (lil'lfily t0 EL gils tlg'm Sudden ll'ltlflHS durer is the reverse of the above. For inin the quality of the gas produce all sorts 4o stance.y if in this ease I wish to bring the of Vtroublesome results in the. opi-eration of 10.5 l'nessurr in to atmospheric without in l the engine. and consequently in th amount. creasing or diminishing the make of the p of power which it suppliesz also in many producer I increase the opening of vailve 21 delicate metallurgical operations it neces-i` l and decrease that of val-ve G until the gage l sary to maintain very uniform con litions in 23 reads zero. Thus, by the suitable inanipthe furnaces. Any tiuctuations in tcinpcra-` 110 ulat'ion of valves Gand 2l I can bring any ture due to a sudden drop in caloi'ific value zone of my producer to above, below lor at of the gas, might entail a, serious l' iss duc to that of the atmosl'iherc without changing an imperfect product. n the speed of the blowers, or changing the The maintenance of periectly uniform make ofl gas.

In the operation of a gas producer, as is producers have long been recogi'iiied in the well known to all persons skilled inthe art, art to be ideal conditions of operation.

the maintenance of proper and uniform tem- Hitherto, however, these have been practiperature conditions is a point ofthe greatest cally unattainable. It is true that, by my importance. If the temperature in the fuel process of temperature regulaticn in pro- 120 bed be allowed, even momentarily, to rise to ducers, by the use of a proper proportion the tluxing point ofI the ash of the fuel the of flue gas in the draft current supplied to result ,will be the formation of large aggre the producer (described and claimed in my gate masses in the fuel bed commonly called l Letters Patent No. 829,105, dated Aug. 21,

clinkers17 thorough cleaning of the fuel bed in order others) I have been "sie to approximate to keep the producer in an operative condivery closely to these ideal conditi ons.` Even tion. In the types of producers in common with this process, however., there still reuse, during this rlinkering operation, it l niained the detect in operation flue torimoiis practically 1 temperatures and production of fas in ygas 115 This necessitates frequent and. 1906, No. 848,729, dated Apr. 2, 1.907; and y 'mpossible to maintain the l perfect control of the pressure cc nditions in 180 the producer. lt Wes to oif'ereome this de feet ,of operation, and to 'enable me to reelize the ideal conditions of operation in prueticey thzlt l here invented the-*herein re Vented process.

l-[aiving described claim is:

l. ln the operation of u process of Controlling local pressure therewitliiu which eoi'uprises suin'iitting the fuel muss to the balancing fiction of draft pressure und suction simultaneously applied to opposite ends ofssid fuel inass, sni l pressure und said suction being so mutually reguluterlus to produce :z desired indicated local pre uu'e ut a, given point in said fuel mess.

ln the operation of e gus producer contuinirugl u uniss of fuel, the process of controlling local pressures therein which eemprises nuiintaining one eud of said fuel mess under :in indieuted pressure greater thu-n :1tn'lospheric pressure hy u forced draft and nmintuiuing the other end under un indicuterl pressure less thun atmospheric pressure hy suction, the degree of pressure of seid forced draft und the degree of suction my invention, what .l

being so relatively controlled :is to establish en indicated atmospheric pressure ate given intermediate point in said mas.

5l. The method of bringing the pressure in the draft current in any desired Zone of a gus' producer to atmospheric pressure 'which consists in subjecting smid dri-ft current at the seine time to un inductive and zi forcing action so adjusted that the combined effects gus producer, the

I l l l l of the two produee a, pressure substantially equal. to that of the atmosphere in such zone of the producer.

.4. In the operation of ges produeer7 the process of controlling ,leest pressures conditions therein which comprises submit ting the fuel. muss to the action :i Current of mingled eir und un endotherrnically acting body7 said draft current being introduced under pressure et; one end of suid fuel mass, and simultaneously Vapplying suction to the other end of seid fue the degree of said pressure and. of seid suetion heiug n'uituzillyso regu-lated as to produce e d fsired local pressure s given pointin said fuelmass. l t

The method of regulating the pressure in any zone of e producer which eonsists in supplying tothe esh pit of seid pro dueer, under pressure, s draft eurrefet Containing nir and un endotl'iermieally acting constituent, withdrawing the gas from seid producer under e pnrtialyacuuin and very,- ing the pressure of the entering` draft. eurrent and the AVacuum 0f theissuing ges eurrent so to produce the desired pressure et any desired zone of the producer.

Signed at New York ei-ty, in the county of New York and State of New'vorl this 31st dey of March, 1909.

' HENRY L. BQH'ERTY. Witnesses Louis F. MUsL, I C. B. GILBERT. 

